Abstract

LIMA, Eduardo Queiroz de  and  AMARAL, Ricardo Farias do. Use of geoindicators in vulnerability mapping for the coastal erosion of a sandy beach. RGCI [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.4, pp.545-557. ISSN 1646-8872.  https://doi.org/10.5894/rgci502.

Pititinga beach, located in the municipality of Rio do Fogo on the eastern coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, lives with the conflict between the actions of the sea and human occupation, giving rise to a striking landscape featuring the damaged waterfront homes of the Pititinga fishing community, which have been destroyed by the action of the sea. Thus, the coastal erosion of Pititinga beach was analysed according to the natural and human conditions and their mutual relations. The methodological procedure used a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and a geoindicators coastal erosion map, which took account of shoreline parameters, the frontal and transgressive dunes, vegetation, and anthropogenic structures. An area was delimited for the generation of the DEM and to collect information for the production of the geoindicators map. The crossing of the DEM with the geoindicators map resulted in an erosion vulnerability map. The data and information obtained were integrated and stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The results show different behaviours in three sections along the shoreline studied, in accordance with the characteristics of each. When frontal and transgressive dunes occur, the vulnerabilities are medium and low, respectively, and when these are absent, as in the village of Pititinga, vulnerability is predominantly very high.

Keywords : Coastal erosion; Geoindicators; Coastal vulnerability; Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

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